Former President Trump celebrated his victory on Saturday after this week’s debate, but argued that President Biden’s poor showing overshadowed his own “great” performance.
“As I walked off the stage at the end of the highly anticipated ‘debate’ Thursday night, the moderator, political reporters and everyone else shouted that I had given the best debate performance in the long history of presidential debates,” Trump said. Posts Posting on his Truth Social site, “Everybody was practically saying, ‘Trump was great!'”
“But by Friday evening, everyone was talking about how Crooked Joe performed poorly and now everyone’s talking about how well I performed,” he continued. “So yeah, it all matters, but the point is the result is the same!!!”
The comments came after the former president slammed the incumbent Biden at a rally in Virginia on Friday, calling him a “stupid, stupid, foolish man.” The Republican front-runner said the president had secured the network and debate rules he wanted but that “no amount of resting or manipulating” would help him on stage.
Mr Trump, who has been critical of CNN for much of his political career, added that the network’s hosts, anchors Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, treated him “very fairly” during the debate.
Much of the discussion surrounding the debate has focused on widespread panic among Democrats about Biden’s shaky performance – his blank look, stuttering and lack of energy – and whether that will affect his ability to beat Trump in November’s presidential election.
While some have defended the president, there have been widespread calls from both parties for him to resign, but the White House and Biden’s team have resisted those demands.
Trump’s performance has also been criticized, with former communications director Anthony Scaramucci saying Trump lied “every 100 seconds” during the debate but that this was normal because it was his brand.
Bash and Tapper have come under fire for refusing to fact-check false statements by Trump and Biden in real time.
